


Prismatic

by waterofthemoon



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Crossdressing, Established Relationship, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, One Shot, Romance, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-26 22:29:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterofthemoon/pseuds/waterofthemoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos takes Cecil to pride. That's basically it. Rainbows and equality for all!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prismatic

**Author's Note:**

> I walked in my city's LGBT pride parade over the weekend. Then I wrote this! It's a little moodier than I thought it was going to be, but, eh, I like moody. Unbetaed, but I forced **[truelyesoteric](http://truelyesoteric.livejournal.com)** to read it over and tell me it was pretty. :D

They drive out of Night Vale the evening before, right after Cecil's show. Carlos marvels at but doesn't voice the way he can almost feel time speeding up as the town literally vanishes in the distance. Cecil's nervous enough about leaving without Carlos adding a science lesson to that.

Instead, he just drives until they get to the nearest major city. They find a reasonably clean chain motel, where Carlos sucks Cecil off until Cecil's panting and quivering on the bed, and then they sleep, limbs tangled together under the thin sheet.

Now they're driving further into the city, through a downtown-adjacent area that shows signs of recent gentrification. The streets get more crowded and colorful as they get closer, and Carlos catches Cecil craning his neck, trying to take it all in. Carlos pulls off on a side street and parks the car.

"Ready?" Carlos asks, squeezing Cecil's hand.

Cecil smiles, and Carlos forgets to breathe for a second. "Of course, Carlos."

They get out of the car and weave through the crowds. Cecil's yellow sundress swishes around his legs when he walks, and he gets more than a few head turns and compliments from people they pass. They get even more catcalls when Carlos stops in the middle of the sidewalk, pulls Cecil in by the rainbow-striped tie Cecil bought especially for the occasion, and kisses him, just to show them all how lucky he is.

They end up next to the metal barricades blocking off the street, hemmed in by the crowd. Cecil's eyes are wide. Carlos doesn't think Cecil's ever seen this many people in one place before, let alone so many drag queens, men in leather shorts, and girls with all the colors of the rainbow streaked through their hair. These are Carlos' people; he doesn't know a single one of them, of course, but he recognizes them all the same.

"What do you think?" Carlos asks. He wipes the sweat off his forehead and takes a swig from his water bottle.

"It's beautiful," Cecil says. His smile is soft, and he bounces a little on the balls of his feet. "They're all so _alive_."

"Just wait," Carlos says, smiling back.

They're a little early, but despite the heat, Carlos doesn't mind standing there with Cecil, Cecil's hand tucked into his back pocket like it was always meant to fit there. A girl in a purple tutu comes by and offers them Jell-O shots and condoms, which Cecil accepts with his usual exuberance. Carlos isn't really in the habit of taking drinks from strangers, but he shrugs and takes one anyway. The condoms all have bright pink stickers on them with the name and contact information of a neighborhood health clinic, so he figures he's probably not getting roofied.

"Welcome to pride." He clicks his plastic cup against Cecil's and watches Cecil's throat work as they down their shots.

They kiss afterwards, tongues tangling together to chase the cherry flavor of the Jell-O. Carlos loves that he can do that here without anyone thinking he's weird or disgusting. In Night Vale, of course, two men kissing on the street is by far the least interesting thing happening on any given day, even if one of them has a penchant for wearing skirts when it's especially hot out. But the rest of the world isn't Night Vale, and it's good to remind himself of that sometimes, that there are still other safe spaces out there. He loops his fingers in the belt of Cecil's dress and kisses him again.

Finally, the first group, a bunch of local LGBT firefighters, starts walking down the street, and the crowd explodes around them. Carlos and Cecil cheer along with them. It's a good parade, lots of community groups along with the usual smattering of corporations, and Carlos can't help but catch the positive energy, a seemingly endless feedback loop of acceptance and goodwill.

About halfway through, Cecil catches a string of purple beads tossed from a float of drag queens, which he immediately places around Carlos' neck with a grin. Carlos grins back and tugs Cecil closer against his side, and a few minutes later, when he catches a red one, he gives that one to Cecil.

After the parade, Carlos convinces Cecil that eating wheat and/or its by-products outside of Night Vale is completely safe, which takes a surprisingly little amount of persuasion, and so they have dinner at this hole in the wall Italian place Carlos spots. Italian always reminds him of their first date, and he says so after they're seated, which makes Cecil blush in the dim lighting.

"Thank you," Cecil says once they've ordered. Carlos thinks he must look confused because Cecil immediately clarifies. "Thank you for sharing this part of your life with me. It means a lot."

"Oh," Carlos says. He ducks his head. "I just—I wanted you to see. Everyone should go at least once, and you hadn't, and—I just felt like you should."

The food comes shortly after, and Carlos comes just short of moaning when he digs in. _God_ , he missed bread.

Later, at the motel, Cecil opens him up slowly and carefully, taking Carlos apart with every clever twist of his fingers and making him feel just as exposed as he had been back at the restaurant. They fuck face to face, Cecil's cock hitting him just right, and Carlos comes with his head thrown back against the pillows and Cecil buried inside of him, the closest two people can be without fusing their bodies into one.

They drive back to Night Vale the next day. Carlos kind of wants to extend their time away, but Cecil has to go to work on Monday, and he has work of his own to attend to. Next time, he thinks. He sings along with the radio and taps his fingers on the steering wheel as he drives, laughing when Cecil says that, according to the song, it's going to be a beautiful day.


End file.
